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U 1 D E 



TO THE 



LANDS 



OF THE 




W 



Northern Pacific Railroad 



MINNESOTA. 




LAND DEPARTMENT, 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY 

120 BROADWAY, NEW YOllK. 



1872. 



'^-^■i 



7 



THE LANDS 



OF THE 



Northern Pacific Railroad 



IN MINNESOTA. 



The Northern Pacific Railroad Company, by act of Congress, is 
entitled to 3,276,000 acres of land in the State of Minnesota. These 
lands are situated along the line of railroad already constructed 
across the State from a point on the Lake Superior & Missis- 
sippi railroad near Lake Superior to Dakota, a distance of 228 
miles. One million acres have been surveyed and are ready for 
sale. The lands owned by the Company are the odd-numbered 
sections in each township, within the limits of the grant, while the 
even-numbered sections are lield by the Government, and are open 
to settlement under the homestead and pre-emption laws. 

The lands have been classified into three divisions, according 
to their situation, forest growth and characteristics of the soiL 

THE FIEST DIVISION 

embraces the territory east of the Mississippi river. This is a 
forest region, the growth being pine, cedar, fir, tamarack, oak, 
maple, birch, ash, and other woods. There are numerous lakes, 
ponds and streams through which the lumber may be run out in- 



to the Mississippi, or brought near to the railroad ; and on that 
account, with the great prospective demand for lumber on the 
prairies farther west, it is an inviting field for the lumberman. 
There are many meadows and marshes covered with luxuriant 
grasses, where thousands of tons of hay may be had for the cut- 
ting. From these natural meadows the lumbermen's teams are 
supplied during the winter. Between the lakes ai*e low ridges 
and belts of land where the soil is good, but covered with a dense 
forest. Near the Mississippi the soil is more sandy, and the 
growth almost wholly pine. 

THE SECOND DIVISION 

embraces the lands between the Mississippi river and the Red 
river valley, a distance of about 110 miles. It is more divei'sified 
than the region east of the Mississippi. There are prairies, low 
hills, ridges, swales and meadows, watered by numerous lakes, 
ponds, and clear-running streams. There are wide belts of 
forest and groves and parks, presenting, especially in the western 
portion, beautiful and charming landscapes. In a region so diver- 
sified several varieties of soil are found. 

Beginning at the Mississippi, and moving west we see that the 
land in the vicinity of the river, and for a distance of twenty 
miles along the northern bank of the Crow Wing river, is a sandy 
loam, the growth consisting of maple, elm, oak and j)ii^6. 
Crossing the Crow Wing, the surface becomes undulating, and 
while the forest is not dense there is a large amount of timber. 

Ottertail county occupies the center of this second division. 
Ottertail city, about fifteen miles south of the line of the railroad, is 
the county seat, and was settled many years ago by the North- 
western Fur Company, so that the capabilities of the soil are 
well known. It is a sandy loam, quick and warm, and easy of 
cultivation. Corn ripens in August. Oats, potatoes and rye 
give large returns, and though the yield of wheat in this county 
is below the average in the State, it is higher than the average in 
Ohio or Iowa. 

In the report of the Commissioner of Statistics in Minnesota for 
1869 the yield of wheat in Ottertail county is given at 12.53 bush- 
els per acre, while the yield in Ohio is but 11.31, and in Iowa 9.05. 

That this region will compare favorably with other sections 
of the country in the production of wheat, oats, barley, buck- 
wheat and potatoes will be seen from the following statement. 



3 

taken from the report of the Agricultural Bureau at Washington 
for Ohio and Iowa, and from the Commissioner of Statistics in 
Minnesota for Ottertail county : 





Wheat. 


Oats. 


(Joru. 


Bai-ley. 


Buckwheat. 


Potatoes. 


Ottertail. . 


..12.53 


26.65 


12.73 


22.15 


11.21 


88.07 


Ohio 


...11.31 


23.86 


34.37 


20.38 


10.97 


72.12 


Iowa 


.. 9.75 


23.04 


37.12 


23.07 


9.49 


81.01 



With the exception of corn, Ottertail county shows a yield su- 
perior in most respects to those two great agricultural States of 
the West. 

In Becker county, the streams in the eastern section send their 
waters to the Gulf of Mexico, while those that rise in the western 
portion flow into Hudson's bay. This county also abounds in lakes 
and running streams, and it has appropriately been called the 
" park region " of the Northwest, on account of the many pic- 
turesque parks and groves, which, with the intervening lawns and 
undulating prairies, waving in summer with luxuriant grasses, lend 
a charm and beauty to the landscape hardly to be surpassed on 
the continent. 

The soil is deeper, darker, and richer than that of Ottertail. 
The sandy element gives place to clay and lime, which, with the 
great amount of organic matter, make it exceedingly fertile. 

The region west of Detroit lake was a solitude in 1869, but is 
now quite thickly settled. Most of the desirable sections of Gov- 
ernment land near the line of the railroad have already been taken 
as homesteads. This section is .so desirable that many settlers 
secured homes before the lands were suiweyed or offered for 
sale. 

The rapid development of this portion of Minnesota is best 
seen by the number of entries for homesteads and pre-emptions 
in the land oftice for the district. The entries since the first of 
January, 1870, are between fourteen and fifteen thousand, repre- 
senting, probably, from thirty to forty thousand inhabitants, inas- 
much as a large percentage of the farms taken lie in this beauti- 
ful and fertile region. 

In addition to the richness of the soil, the abundance of pure 
water, and the attractive features of the landscape, is the large 
area covered with timber — not in unbroken forests, but standing 
in groves, easy of access to the settlers', for farm j^urposes and 
fuel. In Becker county and vicinity, the settler may commence 
at once to turn the sod, inclose his field, and obtain from a 
neighboring grove his fencing material, and wood for his fire. 



THE THIRD DIVISION 

comprises the land in the Red river valley, which has a width 
on the Minnesota side of from twenty to thirty miles, and on 
the Dakota side of from thirty to forty. The soil is wholly 
alluvial, a dark loam abounding in organic matter, twelve to 
twenty-five inches in depth, resting on a subsoil of gray marl, 
rich in lime and other elements that enter into the composition 
of grains and grasses. 

Here the settler will find a field where great farms can be 
managed with corresponding profit ; where furrows, unbroken by 
hillocks, hollows, ridges, or other obstructions, may be turned 
ten and even twenty miles between the stre'ams tributary 
to the Red river, or between the river and the eastern 
boundary of the valley. To the eye the valley seems to be 
perfectly level, but the descent towards the river is at the rate of 
ten feet to the mile — sufficient for drainage. There are no lakes 
or ponds in the valley, but it is watered by the Buffalo river and 
its branches, the Wild Rice and other streams on the Minnesota 
side, and by the Sheyenne, Maple, Elm and others on the Dakota 
side, while excellent water may be had by sinking wells fifteen to 
twenty-five feet below the surface. The ground is covered in sum- 
mer with a heavy growth of grass, furnishing a vast area of 
fine pasturage, and where hay may be cut for winter use. The 
prairie grass is very nutritious, and stock turned to pasture in 
April is fit for the market in midsummer. 

The valley of the Red river is about three hundred and fifty 
miles long and contains an area of from 18,000 to 20,000 square 
miles of arable land, a territory about as large as the States of 
Vermont and New Hampshire combined, or half as large as the 
State of Ohio. The Northern Pacific railroad crosses it from 
east to west about sixty miles from the southern boundary. 
Fort Abercrombie is situated on the Red river about forty miles 
south of the line of the road. The farms that have been under 
cultivation at that point for several years produce, upon an aver- 
age, thirty bushels of wheat to the acre. Thirty-five and even 
forty-five bushels have been harvested under favorable circum- 
stances. Garden vegetables and all the cereals ripen in perfection 
at the Fort, and with a yield higher by several per cent, than 
t-he average throughout the State. 

The northern portion of the valley lies in the province of 
Manitoba in British America. The characteristics of the soil of 
that region are set forth in a pamphlet prepared by the clerk of 



the province, which is approved by a joint committee of both 
lionses of the Manitoba Parliament, and from which the follow- 
ing extract is taken : 

" The soil is an alluvial, black, argillaceous mould, rich in organic de- 
posits, and resting for a depth of two to four feet on a tenacious clay sub- 
soil. The measures of heat are ample for the production and development 
of Indian corn. Wheat is the leading staple. Some fields have been 
known to produce twenty successive crops of wheat without fallow or 
manure, the yield frequently being fifty to sixty bushels to the acre. 
Forty bushels is set down as an average crop." 

Fort Garry, the capital of Manitoba, is 230 miles farther north 
than the line of the Northern Pacific railroad. It is the con- 
current testimony of all who have visited the Red river valley 
that for the production of wheat, oats, barley, buckwheat, rye, 
potatoes and garden vegetables it is superior tc any other equal 
area on the continent. 

Although the productiveness of Ottertail county, as we have 
seen, is greater than the average in Ohio and Iowa, yet the 
average for the State of Minnesota is much greater than that of 
Ottertail county. The following table exhibits, in bushels, the 
yield per acre of four of the principal crops foi- a series of years : 

YEAR. WHEAT OATS. CORN. POTATOES. 

1859 19. 33.9 26.66 115. 

1860 22.05 42.39 35.67 138. 

1865 22.70 43.25 36.80 139.24 

1866 14.46 23.37 23.32 113.60 

1867 14.64 34.54 31.19 101.30 

1868 17.91 36.09 37.30 105.90 

1869 17.55 39.74 30.62 74.70 

At the American Institute Fair held at Louisville in 1871, at 
which Kansas and nearly all of the Western States were repre- 
sented, the products of Minnesota took the highest premium. 
That Minnesota has a climate and soil peculiarly adapted to 
the production of wheat will be seen by the following statement : 

Product, 1859 2,374,415 bushels. 

1869 17,660,467 

The valley of the Red river contains from twelve to thirteen 
million acres of the best wheat lands on the continent — an area 
large enough and sufficiently fertile to produce more wheat than is 
now raised in the United States— and this vast acreage, by the 
construction of the Northern Pacific railroad, and the Pembina 
branch of the St. Paul & Pacific, is now open to the agri- 
culturist. Should the development of this fertile section be as 
rapid as the growth of the State has been between^ 1859 and 



1869, the shipments of grain from Duluth at the close of the 
present decade will not be less than 50,000,000 bushels per 
annum. 

Although Minnesota is not classed as a corn-growing State, 
the following statement will be conclusive evidence that the 
summers are long enough for the cultivation of that grain : 

YEAK. AREA. BUSHELS. AVERAGE. 

1859 117,500 acres. 3,073.749 26.17 

1860 80,782 3,143,577 35.67 

1866 88,183 3,056,647 23.33 

1867 100,648 3,316,010 31.95 

1868 139,909 4,849,936 37.33 

1869 147,587 4,519,120 30.63 

1870 304,139 7,553,773 37.00 

Every kind of grain and garden vegetable raised in New 
England, New York, Pennsylvania, Northern Indiana, Michigan, 
Northern Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin may be raised upon the 
lands of the Northern Pacific railroad. 

FRUIT. 

The country has not been settled long enough along the line 
of the road to show its capabilities for the production of fruit ; 
but at the Minneapolis Fair held on September 13, 1871, there 
were seventy varieties of apples on exhibition, of large size and 
excellent flavors, with the Concord, Delaware and Isabella grapes 
ripened to perfection in the open air. The wild grape is found 
along the Red river and its tributaries. 

TIMBER AND FUEL. 

As has been already seen, the first and second divisions are 
well supplied witli timber and wood for fuel. The forest region 
reaches nearly to the Red river valley. There are two saw- 
mills already in operation at Brainerd, on the Mississippi, manu- 
facturing 50,000 feet of lumber per day, also a planing mill 
and a sash factory. Pine lumber may be had at stations along 
the line of the road at about Minneapolis prices — $16 to $18 per 
thousand feet for common, $20 for second class, $25 for first 
class, shingles $4.50 per thousand. 

There is sufficient wood along the Red river and its tributaries 
to supply settlers with fuel for the present, and there are exhaust- 
less deposits of coal in Dakota, near the line of the railroad, and 
on the Missouri river, about 200 miles west of Minnesota. 



7 



Ijpon the completion of the road to the Missouri river durino- 
the autumn of this present year, 1872, the coal of that region 
can be delivered at Mooi-head and other stations at a price not 
exceeding $5 to $6 per ton. Anthracite coal from Pennsylvania, 
taken to Duluth as ballast by vessels engaged in the grain trade, 
can be put down at Moorhead at a cost not exceeding $10 or $12 
per ton, and the bituminous coal of Ohio and Indiana at a less 
price ; but with a coal field in Dakota many times larger than 
that of Xew York and Pennsylvania, there will always be an 
abundance of cheap fuel in the Red river valley. 

MARKETS. 

One of the most important things to be considered by those 
who are seeking homes is cheap transportation for their farm pro- 
ducts. Grain can be carried at a much lower rate by water than 
by rail, and fertile lands situated near lake ports are therefore 
more valuable than those of equal fertility situated farther away 
from water-carriage. Lands in Northern Illinois, Southern Wis- 
consin and Eastern Iowa, along the lines of railways, have become 
very valuable, becavise the farmers are bo near to Chicago and 
Milwaukee, from whence their grain is shipped by steamers and 
sailing vessels to the East. Lands which ten years ago were 
Avorth from $3 to $10 per acre are now worth from $15 to $50. 
That there will be a corresponding increase in the value of the 
lands along the line of the Northern Pacific railroad in Minnesota 
must be plain to every one who examines the subject, for grain is 
shipped just as cheaply from Duluth to Buffalo, Oswego and 
Ogdensburgh and other Eastern lake ports as from Chicago or 
Milwaukee. The Boston colonists who are rearing their homes 
on the shores of the beautiful Detroit lake in Minnesota can ship 
their grain to market at as low rates as the farmers who live at 
Dubuque, 1 88 miles from Chicago. The colonists who have settled 
in the Red river valley are receiving as much per bushel for their 
wheat as the farmers around Davenport, the largest city of Iowa, 
or in the vicinity of Springfield in Central Illinois. With cheap 
transportation, with a soil as fertile as the most favored sections 
of the Western States, with towns and cities rising as they have 
risen over Wisconsin and Iowa, there must be, as there has been in 
those States, a corresponding increase in the value of land, and the 
settler who secures a farm of 160 acres now may be sure of an 
advance of several hundred per cent, for his investment a few 
vears hence. 



8 

CLIMATE. 

The climate of Central Minnesota in winter is very much like 
that of Maine, New Hampshire, Northern New York, Canada, 
Michigan and Wisconsin, with this exception — that there is less 
moisture in the atmosphere. The mercury frequently goes be- 
low zero m Minnesota, as it does in New England and New 
York, but the snow-fall in Minnesota is usually less than 
in the eastern and northern portions of the Middle States. 
The mean winter temperature of the State is 16M, an average 
about 4° lower than in New Hampshire, Vermont and Northern 
New York, 

The average summer temperature is 70°.6, and coincides with 
that of Central Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The mean yearly 
temperature is 44''.6, and corresponds with that of Wisconsin, 
Michigan, Central New York, Vermont and New Hampshire. 
The summers are like those of Central Pennsylvania and Ohio ; 
the winters like those of New England and Canada. Spring 
opens about the same time that it does in Canada, The first 
frosts occur about the 10th of September, but the streams do 
not freeze till the last of November. 

Rev. Horace Bushnell, D,D., of Hartford, Conn., who passed a 
winter in Minnesota for his health, writes thus of the climate : 

" The winter climate is intensely cold, and yet so dry and clear and still, 
for the most part, as to create no very great suffering. One wlio is prop- 
erly dressed finds tlie climate much more agreeable than the amphibious, 
half-fluid, half-sloppy, grave-like chill of the East. Real snow-storms are 
rare ; there were none last winter. A little more snow, to make better 
sleighing, would be an improvement. As to rain in winter, it is almost un- 
known. There was not a drop of it last winter from the latter part of 
October to the middle or about the middle of March, except a slight drizzle 
on Thanksgiving day." 

The railroads in Minnesota are not usually impeded by drifting 
snows more than those of the Middle and Eastern States. 

HEALTH. 

The air of Minnesota is very clear, pure and bracing. There 
are many people living in the State who formerly were threat- 
ened with consumption, but who in their new homes enjoy pei'- 
fect health. Upon this subject Hon. Alexander Ramsey of the 
United States Senate says : 

" Within the past few years Minnesota has been a popular resort of in- 
valids afflicted with diseases of the throat and lungs, and physicians who 
formerly sent their patients to languish among the perennial flowers of some 



9 

soft Southern sky now generally agree in prescribing the more elastic and 
invigorating air of the far Northwestern States as the most efficacious of 
inhalants. Dry sAv is a non-conductor of heat, like a garment of wool. 
The dry cold winter air stimulates the appetite and digestion ; it quickens 
the circulation and imparts elastic vigor and joyous exhilaration to body 
and mind. It gives their full effect to all the invigorating influences of a 
northern climate in building up the wasted strength of the body, freed 
from the injurious counter influences of a damp atmosphere. I suppose it 
is owing partly to the same cause that that scourge, fever and ague, is un- 
known in Minnesota." 

Rev. II. A. Boardmuu, D.D., of PliilatUdphia, says : 
" In the stores and shops, on the streets and by the firesides, it is an every- 
day experience to meet with residents Avho came to Minnesota one, two, 
five or ten years ago for their health, and, having regained it, decided to 
remain. I have talked with some who, having recovered, went away twice 
over, and then made up their minds that to live at all they must live here. 
The common mistake with consumptives is that they defer coming until 
too late. Every train brings its quota of invalids, and among them there 
are apt to be some whom no skill but that of the Great Physician could 
relieve. Far better if they had stayed at home to ' die among their kin- 
dred.' But on the other hand, there are witnesses here by the hundred to 
testify to the healing virtue of this climate in the incipient stages of pul- 
monary disease." 

Dr. Horace Biishuell gives the following testimony : 
" I went to Minnesota early in July, and remained till the latter part of the 
May following. I had spent a year in Cuba without benefit. I had spent 
also nearly a year in California, making a gain in the dry season, and a 
partial loss in the wet season, returning, however, sufficiently improved to 
resume my labors. Breaking down again from this only partial recovery, 
I made the experiment now of Minnesota, and submitting myself, on re- 
turning, to a very rigid examination by a physician who did not know at 
all what verdict had been passed by other physicians before, he said, in 
accordance with their opinions : ' You have had a difficulty in your right 
lung, but it is healed.' " 

It is a country where there are streams of pure water, and a 
dry atmosphere during the autumn and winter months ; as a con- 
sequence fever and ague and kindred malarial diseases are un- 
known. It may be classed as one of the most healthful climates 
of the Avorld. 

EDUCATION. 

Ill every township I liroughout the Stalf Iwo seeriuns of land, 
numbered 16 and 36, are set aside for school purjioses. It 
is estimated that these lands will amount to 2,900,000 acres. 
About one-eighth of the schoollandshavc already been sold, and 
the fund now amounts to |!2,4V6,220,which is exceeded only by the 
2 



10 

school funds of Massackiisetts, New York and Ohio. The inter- 
est of this fund, together with the proceeds of annual sak'S of 
grass and h;mber from lands held by the State, and a two-iuill tax 
on property, is sufficient to make the common schools of Minne- 
sota equal to those of any other Western State. Three Normal 
Schools are in operation — located at Winona, Mankato and St. 
Oloud — which, together with the State University at St. An- 
thony, Carleton College at Northfield, and several high schools, 
furnish excellent opportunities to those desirous of full courses of 
instruction. 

RAILROAD FACILITIES. 

Those colonists and settlers who build their homes along the 
line of the Northern Pacific railroad will be exempt from the 
heavy taxes to which many new communities in the West are 
subjected — taxes imposed to secure the construction of rail- 
roads. In Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa, great liabili- 
ties have been incurred by the issuing of town and county bonds 
for such purposes, but a glance at the accompanying map will 
make it plain that no such burdens will be imposed upon those 
who secure homes in Central Minnesota or in the Red river 
valley. By the St. Paul & Pacific, from St. Cloud to Brainerd, 
and by the Pembina branch of the same road, from St. Cloud to 
Pembina, which crosses the Northern Pacific in the Red river 
valley, the settlers on these lauds will have communication with 
Minneapolis and St. Paul — the manufacturing and commercial 
centers of the Northwest — and with the great network of rail- 
roads radiating from those cities. 

With railways already constructed, with a gently rolling coun- 
try, with a soil admirably adapted for the making of smooth 
hio'hways, with so large a fund for school purposes, the rate of 
taxation will be far less than in most new communities. 

COLONIES. 

Settlers will find it greatly to their advantage to go in 
colonies. Fifty or one hundred persoiis combining may secure, 
on favorable terms, all the land held by the railroad company 
in a township. The colony system is calculated to supply the 
needs of all members of the community ; to furnish employment 
to every industry. Wherever a colony is established there will 
be found near its center the blacksmith, shoemaker, carpen- 
ter, mason, storekeeper, the post-office, the school-house, the 



11 

Sunday school, the church, and the farmers will find a market 
for their grain at the railroad station. One hundred or more 
families uniting to foi-m a community may insure everything 
that goes to make up the sum of civilization at once — good 
government, good neighbors, morality, security to property, com- 
fort and prosperity. 

The Boston colony of soldiers at Detroit lake, established in 
1871, before the track had reached their township, is an illustra- 
tion of the point. They have secured all the land belonging to 
the railroad in township 139, range 41, at favorable rates and on 
easy terms of payment. Each soldier has taken his homestead of 
160 acres of Government land, and by purchasing land of the 
railroad company will be able to enlarge his farm ; having en- 
hanced the value of all the lands by his improvements, will be 
benefited himself in turn. 

" The Red River Colony " is located in the valley and on its 
eastern border, in Clay county. The lands selected by the col- 
onists are watered by the Buffalo river and its branches. The 
soil is deep and fertile, and yields a large ci'op of grass. Quite a 
number of settlers located homestead claims on the Bufialo in 
1871 before the lands were surveyed. The junction of the North- 
ern Pacific will be at Glyndon, nearly in the center of the coimty 
and of this colony. Several hundred families have signified their 
intention of locating in the vicinity during the present year. 

SOLDIERS' COLONIES. 

The recent modification of the homestead law in favor of sol- 
diers and sailors, reducing the time of occupation before obtaining 
a title, coupled with the fact that the Northei-n Pacific Railroad 
Company offers very liberal terms, with long time for payment, 
will doubtless induce thousands of veterans of the late war to 
secure homes in this fertile and inviting section of Minnesota. 
Lands which may be obtained by a residence of twelve or twenty- 
four months will soon be Avorth from ten to thirty dollars per acre, 
according to their fei'tility and neai-ness to railroad stations. 

Soldiers residing in the same community, or formerly members 
of the same command, can, by uniting, reap all the benefits of 
the new law and of the colony system combined. They will also 
have this marked advantage over ordinary colonists, that they can, 
after organizing, send out an agent or committee to examine dif- 
ferent sections, select a location, and enter a homestead for each 



12 

member of the colony — the members themselves having six 
months time, after the entry by the agent, before settling on and 
improving their homesteads. 

WHEN TO SETTLE. 

Settlers should be on the ground, if possible, in the month 
of June, that they may have time to break up a portion of 
their lands for the next year. The prairie sod must he broken 
in June or July, when the grass roots are filled with juice, 
to secure a thorough rotting of the turf. If turned early in June, 
potatoes and corn may be planted on the sod, and the yield will 
be about half a crop ; but the ground will be in better condition 
for the succeeding year if nothing is planted npon the turf. In 
the following spring the ground shovild be thoroughly harrowed, 
and the wheat drilled in or sown broadcast. If sown in May, it 
will be ready for the reaj)er early in August, and as soon as it is 
taken off jilowing may commence for the next year's crop. 

Four oxen are needed to drag a plow turning a fourteen-inch 
furrow. Many settlers prefer oxen to horses for the first 
plowing, inasmuch as they will Avork throughout the summer 
without grain, keeping in good flesh upon the prairie grass, while 
horses will need their daily allowance of grain. But for all farm 
purposes other than this horses are much more serviceable than 
oxen. The cost per acre for breaking is from $3 to $4. 

STOCK-RAISING. 

These lands are admirably adapted to the raising of stock. 
The grasses are nutritious and luxuriant. Shelter and feeding in 
winter will be needed, as in the Eastern and Middle States, but a 
great amount of hay may be cut upon the prairies for that pur- 
pose at a cost of about $3 a ton. Sheep thrive through all this 
section, and are not subject to foot-rot and other diseases preva- 
lent hi Ohio and Illinois, where the water is less pure, and the cli- 
mate has a greater dampness. Sheep are adapted by nature to 
withstand cold, but they will not thrive in a drizzly winter or a 
hot summer climate, nor will they drink the water of muddy streams. 
Wool-growing in Minnesota has already become very pi-ofitable. 
The farmers find a market at Minneapolis, where there is a large 
manufactory of blankets, flannels and other goods, which are 
already known as equal to any manufactured in the country. 

PRICE OF LAND. 

The Riiilroad Company is entitled to " ten alternate sections per 



13 

mile on each side of the road" in the State of Minnesota, mak- 
ing twenty sections to the mile, or 12,800 acres. The charter, 
provides that if any portion of the land within tlie distance 
of twenty miles of the line shall have been already taken, the 
Company shall have the privilege of making up the deficiency be- 
yond that limit to the distance of twenty miles. In the map accom- 
panying this pamphlet the twenty-mile limit is seen in the shaded 
portion. The lands near the line have been mostly appraised, and 
graded according to their fertility, quality of soft and proxim- 
ity to railroad stations, and will be offered at exceedingly low 
prices and on the followiup; terms • 

TERMS OF SALE. 

Payments for all lands (excepting timber lands) may be made : 
Ten (10) per cent, in Cash ; 
Ten (10) per cent, in One Year ; 
Ten (10) per cent, in Two Years ; 
Ten (10) per cent, in Three Years ; 
Fifteen (15) per cent, in Four Years ; 
Fifteen (15) per cent, in Five Years ; 
Fifteen (15) per cent, in Six Years ; 
Fifteen (15) per cent, in Seven Years ; 

The rate of interest on the deferred payments will be seven (7) per cent, 
per annum, payable annually. 

The Company will also take their own bonds in payment, allow- 
ing the purchaser a 2yremium of ten per cent. These bonds bear 
T^V interest in gold, are at present sold at par, and are secured 
by a first mortgage on all the lands and all the property and the 
franchise of the Company, 

On the supposition that a settler purchases 80 acres of land on 
the 1st of June, 1872, at %h per acre, paying for it in installments, 
his payments, with his interest account, would be as follows : 

T -,.^o*v'^' .. Principal. Interest. Amoiint Each Year, 

•^^"t^^*'^;? 10 per cent. $40 .^40.01) 

l«7t) 1.J per cent. 60 16 80 7'i 60 

" 1877 " 60 1260 6S40 

" 1878 " 60 8:40 64o5 

•' 1879 ■• 60 430 ello 



Total $400 $100.20 .^509.30 

Plans and descriptive notes of all the appraised lands will be 
found in the Company's office at St. Paul. 

The Company will have agents at all important stations to give 
full information to settlers and to assist them in finding desirable 
locations. The charter forbids the sale of any lands "while the 
road is under construction at less than the Government price 



14 

$2.50 per acre. The prices will vary for agricultural lands 
from $2.50 to about $7 or $8, according to location and qviality. 
The average price will be about |5 per acre, which will be $1.23 
less than the price paid for school lands throughout the State, 
which have averaged $6.23 per acre. 

OUTFIT. 

Settlers will be able to obtain all ijnplements for the farm at 
the prominent stations on the line of the road — plows, harrows, 
drills, reapers, mowers, rakes, wagons, harnesses and tools of 
all kinds. All articles of household fiirniture — stoves, iron, 
wood and tin ware, bedsteads, chairs, tables, bureaus, bedding — 
ready-made clothing, groceries and dry goods of every descrip- 
tion, may be obtained at the stores already established at Duluth, 
Brainerd, Detroit lake, andMoorhead. The colonist from an East- 
ern State will find it to his advantage to take no bulky articles 
to his new home, as everything necessary for the farm and the 
house may be obtained on the spot at reasonable rates. 

Cheap freights can be had from all the principal places East by 
the lakes during the summer months. In all cases it is best to 
send by a despatch company. Freight may be shipped from 
Boston and all points in the New England States, and from New 
York and Cleveland, by the several Despatch Companies, in con- 
nection with the Vermont Central railroad, to Sarnia and Duluth ; 
from New York over the Erie railway, and by the Union Steam- 
boat Company from Buffalo, Cleveland and Detroit to Duluth; 
from New York and Philadelphia over the Pennsylvania Central 
road, and by the Atlantic & Duluth line of steamers from Erie, 
Cleveland and Detroit to Duluth. 

FREE TRANSPORTATION FOR SETTLERS. 

Settlers purchasing 40 acres or more of the Company's lands 
in Minnesota are allowed free transportation for themselves, 
their wives and children, over the Northern Pacific railroad, 
when going to settle upon the lands purchased. 

Arrangements have been made by which parties of five or 
more, whether purchasing the Company's lands or settling on 
Government lands, can obtain reduced rates of fare from all 
principal points East. 

ACCOMMODATIONS. 

Capacious and comfortable reception houses are erected at Du- 
luth, Brainerd and Hawley. Others will be built if needed. These 



15 

houses are fitted up witli cooking stoves, wasliing conveniences 
and beds, and are to be usei while emigrants are looking about 
for farms. Tliey are large enough for the accommodation of 
several hundred persons at a time, and will be under the charge 
of competent superintendents. Families will have an opportunity 
to do their own cooking and washing, and no charge will be made 
for the privileges of the house. Provisions will be furnished at 
cost. There m^U be a hospital attached to each establishment. 

Settlers can remain in these buildings while on their May to 
their own lands, without the expense they would otherwise be 
subjected to if compelled to stop at hotels. ' 

READY-MADE HOUSES. 

At Brainerd ready made houses of various sizes may be liad 
of a Manufacturing Company, which may be ordered in ad 
vance, costing from $100 to $500. They are strongly built, 
have good frames, matched floors and roof, tongued and grooved 
ceilings, with windows, doors, sash and chimney. 

At many points along the line of the road, excellent material 
is found for the making of brick, and it is expected that the Manu- 
facturing Company at Brainerd will be prepared during the year 
to supply settlers at a price not exceeding |8 to $10 per thou- 
sand at the kiln. 

HOW TO SECURE GOVERNMENT LANDS. 

HOMESTEAD ENTRY. 

Under the Homestead Law any person 21 years of age, or the 
head of a family, a citizen of the United States, or who shall 
have filed a declaration to become such, who has never borne arms 
against the Government or given aid to its enemies, is entitled to 
enter 160 acres of land, without cost, except the -fees hereinafter 
stated. After five years residence and improvement, the Govern- 
ment gives a free title. Unmarried women and widows are enti- 
tled to the privileges and subject to the conditions of this law. 
Withm the limits of the Railroad Land Grant, the Homestead 
privilege is restricted to 80 acres instead of 160, lands within 
these limits being considered worth twice as much as lands outside. 

SOLDIERS AXD SAILOKS. 

By the Act of Congress of July loth, 1870, soldiers, sailors 
and ofiicei-s, who served 90 days during the Rebellion, and have 
remained loyal, are exempted froni the restriction above noted 
and may enter under the Homestead Act the full area of 160 
acres within railroad limits. 



16 



l»RE-K>tPTIOX. 

Under the Pre-emption Law, persons entitled to the privileges 
of the Ploniestead Law may acquire the right to purchase 160 
acres of Government land, whether within raili'oad limits or 
not, by filing a declaration that he or she has settled upon and 
claims the same. Within railroad limits, the Government price 
is $2.50 per acre. Outside of such limits, the price is $1.25. Pre- 
emptors are required to remain upon and imj^roA' e the lands for six 
months. Taking of lands under the Pre-emption Law does not 
prevent entry under the Homestead Law afterwards. The 
same person may enjoy all the privileges of both laws. A 
Homestead entry may be changed to a Pre-emption claim, after 
six months' residence. 

FEES AND COMMISSIONS 

for homesteads, when the entry is made, are to be paid ms fol- 
lows : 

TN MINNESOTA. 

Fees. Comm'n. Total. 

Acres, 160 outside railroad limits $10 00 $4 00 $14 00 

80 " " " 5 00 2 00 7 00 

40 " " " 00 1 00 G 00 

160 within " " 20 00 8 00 28 00 

80 " " " 10 00 4 00 14 00 

40 " " " o 00 2 00 7 00 

FREE HOMES FOR SOLDIERS AND SAILORS. 

THE XEAV LAW. 

By act of Congress passed April, 1872, the law in regard to 
soldiers' homesteads is so amended that instead of a residence of 
five years, a residence oifrorn, twelve to twenty months will entitle 
a soldier to a homestead of 160 acres Avithin railroad limits. 

The law has the following provisions : 

1. The homestead may be located six months before the com- 
mencement of improvements. 

2. The time which the soldier or sailor may have served in the 
army shall be deducted from the five years occujiancy required 
under former acts. 

3. The widow (if unmarried) of any soldiei* Avho, if living, would 
be entitled to a homestead, is also entitled to the benefit of the 
act ; if she has died or has married again, the minor children of 
the deceased soldier, through theii- guardian, shall be entitled to 
the benefit of the act, subject to the required settlement and im- 



IT 

proveuipjit. If rlu' soldier dii'd (luring his term of service, llu; 
whole period ot'liis eidistmeiit is to be deducted from the? five 
years. 

4. The entry or location may be made by an agent, whicli shall 
hold for six montlis, when improvements must be commenced 
l)y the soldier in j^erson. 

There are other provisions, as will be seen by a perusal of the 

act : 

Be it enacted by the Senate and tlie House of Representatively of tlie United States of America 
ill Conrp'ess assembled, That every private soldier and ofticer wlio has served in the Army of 
tlie United States during the recent rebellion for ninety days or more, and who was honor- 
ably discharged, and has remained loj'al to the Government, including the troops nuis- 
terod into the service of the United States by virtue of the third section of an act entitled 
•• An act making appropriations for completing the defences of Washington, and for other 
purposes," approved February 13, 1863, and every seaman, marine, and officer who lias 
served in the Navy of the United States, or in the Marine Corps, during the rebellion, for 
ninety days, and who was honorably discharged, and has remained loyal to the Goveniment, 
shall, on compliance with provisions of an act entitled "An act to secure homesteads to 
actual settlers on the public domain," and the acts amendatory thereof, as hereinafter modi- 
tied, be entitled to enter upon and receive patents for a quantity of public lands (not mineral) 
not exceeding one hundred and si.xty acres, or one quarter section, to be taken in com])act 
form according to legal subdivisions, including the alternate reserved sections of public 
lands along the line of any railroad or other public work, not otherwise reserved or appro- 
priated, and other lands subject to entry under the homestead laws of the United States: 
Provided, That said homestead settler shall be allowed six months after locating his home- 
stead within which to cammence his settlement and improvement: And provided also. That 
the time which the homestead settler shall have served in the Army, Navy or Marine Corps, 
aforesaid, shall be deducted from the time heretofore required to perfect title, or if dis- 
charged on account of wounds received, or disability incurred in the line of duty, then the 
tenn of enlistment shall be deducted from the time heretofore required to perfect title, with- 
out reference to the length of time he may have serve d : Provided, h(nvever,T\mi no patent 
shall issue to any homestead settler who has not resided upon, improved, and cultivated 
his said homestead for a period of at least one year after he shall commence his improve- 
ments as aforesaid. 

Sec. 2. That any person entitled under the provisions of the foregoing section to enter a 
homestead, who may have heretofore entered under the homestead laws a quantity of land 
less than one hundred and sixty acres shal be permitted to enter under the provisions of 
this act so much land as, when added to the quantity previously entered, shall not exceed 
one hundred and sixty acres. 

Sec. 3. That in the case of the death of any person who would be entitled to a homestead 
mider the provisions of the first section of this act, his widow, if unmariied, or in case of 
her death or marriage, then his minor orphan children, by a guardian duly appointed and 
officially accredited at the Department of the Interior, shall be entitled to all the benefits 
enumerated in this art, subject to all the provisions as to settlement and improvements there- 
in contained : Provided, That if such person died during his term of enlistment, the whole term 
of his enlistment shall be deducted from the time heretofore required to perfect the title. 

Sec. 4. That where a party, at the date of his entry of a tract of land under the home- 
stead laws, or subsequently thereto, was actually enlisted and employed in the Ai-my or 
Navy of the United States, his services therein shall in the administration of said home- 
stead laws, be construed to be equivalent, to all intents and purposes, to a residence for the 
same length of time upoi the trac so entered: Provided, 'YXvdi if his entry has been can- 
celed by reason of his absenc< from said tract while in the military or naval service of tlie 
United States, and such tract has not been disposed of, his entry shall be restored and con- 
firmed: And provided further, That if such tract has been disposed of, said party may enter 
another tract subject to entry undei- said laws, and his right to a patent therefor shall be 
determined by the proofs touching his residence and cultivation of the first tract, and hia 
absence therefrom in such service. 



18 

Sec. 5. That any soldier, sailor, marine, officer, or other person coming witliiu the pro- 
visions of this act may, as well by an agent as in person, enter upon said homestead: Pro- 
vided, That said claimant in person shall, within the time prescribed, commence settlement 
and improvements on the same, and thereafter fulfill all the requirements of this act. 

Sec. 6. That the Commissioner of the General Land Office shall have authority to make 
all needful rules and regulations to carry into effect the provisions of this act. 

By tliis act any soldiers who have not already taken a home- 
stead may secure the rich wheat lands, supplied with wood and 
water, and near to lake transportation, along the line of the 
Northern Pacific Railroad. 

HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION. 

A liberal law exists in Minnesota in relation to homestead ex- 
emption. The provisions of the act are as follows : 

" That a homestead consisting of an}- quantity of land not exceeding eighty acres, and 
the dwelling-house thereon and its appurtenances, to be selected by the owner thereof, and 
not included in any incorporated town, city, or village, or instead thereof, at the option of 
the owner, a quantity ofland not exceeding in aniount(me lot, being within an incorporated 
town, city, or village, and the dwelling-house thereon and its appurtenances, owned and 
occupied by any resident of this State, shall not be subject to attachment, levy or sale, 
upon any execution, or any other process issuing out of any court within this State. This 
section shall be deemed and construed to exempt such homestead in the manner aforesaid 
dm-ing the time it shall be occupied by the widow or minor child or children of any deceased 
person who was, when living, entitled to the benefits of this act."' 

There is also a liberal exemption from attachment by process 
of law on personal property, exempting the family Bible, pie- 
tuT'es, school books, musical instruments, church pew, cemetery 
lot, all wearing apparel, beds, stoves, and furniture not exceeding 
$500 in value ; also a certain number of cows, sheep and working 
team, with a year's food for the same ; a wagon, sleigh, and farm- 
ing implements not exceeding $100 in value; also a year's supply 
of family provisions or growing crops, and fuel, and seed grain not 
exceeding fifty bushels of wheat and also of oats, five of jjotatoes, 
and one of corn ; also mechanics' or miners' tools, with |400 worth 
of stock-in-trade, and the library and implements of professional 
men. 

COST OF A HOUSE. 

Seasoned lumber from Brainerd and Minneapolis may be pur- 
chased in those places of the manufacturers, who will deliver it at 
any station, or it may be had of dealers at Detroit lake. Oak 
lake, Glyndon, Moorhead and other stations on the Northern Pa- 
cific road. A settler who can use a saw, ax and hammer may 
build himself a comfortable dwelling in a very short time. Where 
lumber can be obtained for |16 or $20 j^er thousand it will be 
much cheaper to build a board house than one of logs, as there 
will be a great saving of time and labor. 



•!9 



A house containing one room 14.\:1() foot will require about 
1,500 feet of lumber. Such a house, with sheathing paper, 
shingled roof, door, two windows and double floors can be built 
for about |100, and would be warm in winter. 

A very comfortable house, large enough for a family of several 
persons, may be built at a cost of about $200. It would be 
16x20 feet inside, contain a living room 13x16, bed-room 7x12, 
pantry 4x7 on the ground floor, with stairs leading to the attic. 
I'he studding would be twelve feet from the sills to the eaves, the 
lower story eight feet. Four feet above, with a sloping roof, 
will give an attic large enough for good sleeping accommoda- 
tions. The house would need five windows, one outside and two 
inside doors. The items 9f expense would be, approximately, as 
follows : 

4,000 feet common lumber at |20 |80.00 

4,000 No. 2 shingles at |4 16.00 

Nails 10.00 

Sheathing paper. 20.00 

Doora and windows 18.00 

Labor 30.00 



1174.00 
Twenty per cent, for contingencies 34.80 

Total $208.80 

The following diagram shows the arrangement of the inte- 
rior of the house. 



1 



20 



pAhlTf^Y 



l6 X 13 




BED ROONt 
7 X 12 



_i 



FIjAN.— Scale 3-16 of an inoh to the foot. 



The front elevation will be seen in the cut on the opposite 
page. The eaves should project a foot or more to carry the 
rain from the sides of the building. Tile chimneys can be pur- 
chased at St. Paul and Mhmoapolis, and doubtless will be for 
sale by the merchants at all the principal stations. Until brick, 



20 



or ready-mafle chimneys can be obtained, a joint of stove-pipe 
will serve instead, only great care should be takcm to protect 
the surrounding wood from taking fii-e. 




ir-ROTSTT EJliEVATlOIlsr. 



The plan is drawn on a scale of three-sixteenths of an inch 
to the foot, so that a settler with the plan before him may 
make his own calculations and be his own joiner. 




END ELEVATION. 

The house should front toward the south or east. The pre- 
vailing winds in Minnesota are from the west and southwest. 
Easterlv storms do not often occur. With a southern or eastern 



21 

exposure, the sun during winter will be felt in both the living and 
Bleeping rooms. In building the house, oaken posts at each cor- 
ner, three feet in length and eight or ten inches in diameter, 
should be sunk into the ground nearly their full length, and the 
sills spiked firmly to them. This, with proper bracing, will give 
sufiicient firmness to the structure against the winds. In the fall 
it should be well banked with straw or earth. 

With battened walls and sheathing-paper such a house is very 
warm, and will give good accommodations till the owner is in 
circumstances to replace it Avith one of more ample dimensions. 
The walls of the cellar may be protected by timber until stone 
or brick can be readily obtained. 

VAKM IMPLEMENTS AND TEAMS. 

It should be the aim of every settler to get a few acres of 
land plowed in June or July, in order to put in a crop next 
spring. A team of four oxen or horses will turn two acres of 
sod per day. Twenty acres of land broken this summer, re- 
quiring ten days' labor, Avill enable the settler to harvest proba- 
bly three hundred bushels of grain, besides potatoes, corn and 
other products next year, if the season be propitious. Even 
house-building should be put aside to accomplish that end. A 
tent or a covered Avagon will give good shelter during the sum- 
mer in the delightful clunate of Minnesota. There will be time 
enough to build a house after it is too late to plow. Settlers by 
" changing work " can save considerable outlay the first year. 

A man owning a yoke of oxen and a plow can unite with a 
neighbor and make up a team for plowing. The first year Avill 
be mostly devoted to getting ready for the next. No drill, 
reaper or thresher will be needed for a twelve-month. A yoke 
of oxen or a span of horses, a wagon, plow, harrow, shovel, 
hoe, ax, chains and a grindstone are the main implements 
needed the first season. For the second season a seed-plow, a 
drill, combined reaper and mower and a rake must be added. 
Two or three farmers may unite and own the implements in 
common while getting started. 

ANSWERS TO INQUIRIES. 

What are the rates of fare from Boston and New York to the 
Red river ? 

Where parties of five or more go in company, settlers will ob- 
tain, from the different railroads, from 20 to 30 per cent, discount 



22 

from regular rates. Full information on this point can be ob- 
tained at the principal railway ticket offices in the cities. As 
elsewhere stated, all persons who purchase lands of the Company- 
will have free tickets over the Northern Pacific road when going 
to settle. 

What is the lowest estimate of expenses and outlay for the first 
year f 

The expense for a man who leaves his family behind till he can 
get started Avill be, approximately, as follows : 

Yoke of oxen $125.00 

Wagon 75.00 

Plow 25.00 

House with one room , 100.00 

Stove 25.00 

Chains, ax, shovel, grindstone, etc 25.00 

$375.00 
Living will cost about $3 per week. 

Persons who can command from $500 to $1,000 can begin 
wnAer very favorable auspiceshj settling on Government land, or 
by purchasing of the Company and paying in installments. 

What are the chances for einploytnent ? 

During the present year, 1872, from five to six thousand men 
will be needed on the construction of the JSTorthern Pacific road 
in Dakota and on the St. Paul & Pacific in the Red river valley. 
Many carpenters, blacksmiths, shoemakers, tinware manufac- 
turers, masons, and day laborers Avill find employment, but clerks 
and book-keepers will not be needed. 

When is the best time to go to Minnesota f 

Those settlers who intend to engage in farming should go in 
May or June, and plow as much as possible before the end of 
July. 

Are there any mills along the line of the railroad ? 

There are saw and planing mills at Brainerd, also at the cross- 
ing of the Ottertail river, and a saw-mill at Fort Abercrombie. 
Saw and grist mills probably will be established during the pres- 
ent summer at Detroit lake and Glyndon. 

Do the Indians give settlers any trouble f 

There are only a few Indians in Minnesota — the Chippewas — 
and they have always been friendly ; they are now on reserva- 



23 

tions, living in houses and cultivating the land. They are not 
troublesome. 

Which is the best section, jor raising stock / 

The entire region between Leaf river and the Red river is 
alike adapted to stock-raising and grain-growing. 

What does it cost to fence land? 

From Lake Superior to Lakeside station nearly every section 
of land has sufficient timber for farm purposes, and the cost will 
be wholly one of labor. In the vicinity of Detroit lake there is 
an abundance of tamarack suitable for fencinij which can be de- 
livered by rail in the Red river valley at a cost not exceeding 
seventy-five cents to the rod, including labor in cutting, freight 
on the cars, and building. 

Shall I take my family loith me and move to Minnesota before 
providing a hom.e ? 

Many immigrants from Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and other 
Western States, having sold their old homes, start Avith their 
families in search of new ones. They pack their furniture in a 
canvas-covered wagon, take their flocks and herds, their cooking- 
utensils and provisions Vv'ith them, and live by the way. They 
sleep in their wagon, or beneath it, and travel till they find a 
locality that suits them. From May till October a family may 
thus travel, and experience no great hardship. But the settlers 
who go by rail Avill be differently situated. They may take their 
families Avith them and find temporary accommodations in the 
reception houses; but if their families are conveniently located, 
it may be better to leave them behind until a selection is made 
and a shelter erected. 

Can wagons^ ready made, be purchased along the line of the 
Northern Pacific Railroad f 

There are several wagon manufactories in the State — at 
Minneapolis, St. Paul, and other places — and the manufacturers 
usually have agencies at all the principal railroad stations. The 
Michigan manufacturers also have agencies throughout tb.e 
State. 

Can ploxos, reapers, rakes and other agricultural implements 
he obtained along the line of the road ? 

Nearly all of the Eastern manufacturers of agricultural imple- 
ments have general agents in the State, and sub-agents a?t all 



24 

the principal railroad stations. Settlers will be able to purchase 
farming implements of every description. 

Can household furniture he obtained^ and is there a supply of 
food for the present season ? 

All articles necessary for housekeeping — stoves, tables, chairs, 
beds, etc. — may be obtained at stores already established. Set- 
tlers having bedding "will do well to take it with them. Beef, 
pork, flour, potatoes, and other provisions may be jaurchased at 
the stores or of the farmers of Ottertail, Becker, Douglas, Wil- 
kin, and other counties already partially settled. 

If a settler goes to Miymesota this season, loill lie be able to 
raise food enough for himself and family through the year? 

If he makes his location by the middle or even during the 
month of June, he may plant j^otatoes, sow turnips, and be very 
sure of obtaining good crops. Eai'ly varieties of corn may 
be planted, with the prospect of a fair yield. After the furrow 
is turned, it maybe planted by chopping a place with a single 
sti'oke of a hatchet, dropping the corn in, and pressing it down 
with the foot. Squashes, pumpkins, and melons grow on the 
sod. Beans also may be grown on the turf. By using early 
varieties of seed, an abundant supply of these articles of food 
may be raised for the use of a family. 

INDUCEMENTS T(^ COLONISTS. 

Attention is invited to the followinoc summarv of facts in 
resrard to these lands in Central and Western Minnesota. 

They are acknowledged to be better adapted to the cultivalion 
of wheat than any other section of the continent. 

They pi'oduce as much grain per acre as the best lauds of 
Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas or 
Nebraska. 

They are also adapted to the production of oats, rye, barley, 
})otatoes and garden vegetables, and produce moi-e than the 
averages of those States. 

They are supplied with a great vai'iety of timber, and lumber is 
much cheaper than in most of the Western States. Settlers Avill 
have a supply of wood and coal, and may always count upon 
having cheap fuel. 

They are watered by running streams, lakes and j^onds of 
the purest water, and fanners will never need artesian wells or l)e 
dependent on irrigation. 



25 

They are located in a healthful climate, where fever and ague 
and other malarial diseases are unknown. 

They are as well adapted to the raising of stock as to the 
cultivation of grain. - 

They are on a line of railway already constructed ; conse- 
qviently settlers will never be called upon to pay taxes or to 
bond their towns, cities and counties, or to mortgage their farms, 
to secure railway facilities. 

They are oifered at a low price, and on easy terras of payment, 
and while at present the railroad company sells its bonds at par 
it receives them in payment for lands at ten per cent, premium. 

Settlers and their families purchasing 40 acres or more of land 
of the Company will receive free tickets over the Northern 
Pacific Railroad when going to settle. 

All facilities and advantages furnished by the Company to 
settlers on railroad lands are also furnistied to homestead set- 
tlers on the alternate Government sections, except the free 
transportation over the Northern Pacific road, 

Transjjortation at reduced rates will be furnished from all 
principal points East. The Company will look after the wel- 
fare of settlers and provide them with comfortable reception 
houses while selecting lands, etc., without charge. 

That these lands will rapidly rise in value is evident from the 
fact that the rates of transportation to Boston, New York, Phil- 
adelphia and other Eastern cities, by water, are no higher than 
from Central Illinois or Eastern Iowa, where improved farms 
have an average value of $35 per acre. 

They are located in a State that has a larger school fund than 
any, with the exception of Massachusetts, New York and Ohio. 

They are located in a State which had but 5,042 inhabitants in 
1850, and had 442,000 in 1870, and, by the same ratio, will have 
a population of a million and a quarter in 1880. 

They are located on a raih-oad which will be completed to the 
Missouri river during 1872, and to the Pacific ocean at an early 
day : the shortest line between the Atlantic and the Pacific, and 
destined to become one of the great highways of the world. 

With these and other advantages that might be named it is 
evident there ai'e no other lands so inviting to settlers who are 
seeking new homes in the West. 

PROGRESS OF THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 

The construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad was begun 
in June, 1870, and was completed across the State of Minnesota in 



26 

December, 1871 — a distance of 228 miles from the junction with 
the Lake Superior & Mississippi road, or 252 miles from lake 
navigation at Duluth. The section west of Minnesota, between 
the Red river and the Missouri, was put under contract in Octo- 
ber, IBYl, to be completed dui-ing the summer of 1872 — a fur- 
ther distance of 199 miles, or a total from lake navigation of 451 
miles. 

A preliminary survey of the line between the Missouri and the 
Yellow Stone was made in the fall of 1871, and will be put un- 
der contract as soon as the locating surveys are completed, dur- 
ing the summer of 1872. The distance from the Yellow Stone 
to the Missouri is 229 miles. In that section lies the great coal 
field of Dakota. ExjDlorations and surveys were made through 
the entire region between the Missouri and the Pacific ocean in 
1871, and will be continued through 1872. 

Sixty-five miles of the western section of the road, between the 
Columbia river and Puget sound, are under construction, to be 
completed during the summer of 1 872, and the remainder of the 
section will be put under contract during the year. The enter- 
prise will be pushed to completion with the utmost possible 
dispatch. 

The Company's repair shops and offices ai-e located at Brainerd, 
which, with the lumbering interest already developing, give 
promise of making it one of the most important points along 
the line of the road. 

RAILWAY CONNECTIONS. 

The grading of the Brainerd branch of the St. Paul & Pacific 
railroad was completed in 1871, and the track will be laid by 
midsummer of the present year (1872), thus making direct con- 
nection with Minneapolis, St. Paul, and the railway system of 
the country. 

The St. Cloud & Pembina branch of the St. Paul & Pacific 
road, which crosses the Northern Pacific at Glyndon, is under 
contract to be completed the present year. The construction of 
these roads, in connection with the NorthernPacific, give railroad 
facilities to the entire region of Central and Northwestern Min- 
nesota, while the immediate extension of the line to the Missouri, 
and the assurance of its early completion to the Pacific ocean, 
and of its becoming one of the great highways of the world, 
give a value to the lands along the line unsurpassed by those of 
any other section of the continent. 



27 



STATIONS ON THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD FROM 

DULUTH. 



Lake Superior & Mississippi. 

Miles. 

Duluth. 

Rice's Point 1 

Oneota 4 

Spirit Lake 9 

Fond du Lac 15 

Thomson 28 

Northern Pacific. 

Junction . . 24 

Komoka 25 

Norman 33 

Island Lake 46 

Sicotte's 57 

Sandy River 65 

McGregor 70 

Kimberley 76 

Aiken 88 



Withington . 



Miles. 
98 



Brainerd (junction with St.Cloud 
Branch of St. Paul & Pacific). 115 

Pillager 127 

Motley 137 

Aldrich 151 

Wadena 161 

Leaf River 166 

Perham 185 

Anthon 196 

Detroit Lake 206 

Audubon 213 

Lakeside 219 

Hawley 229 

Glyndon (junction with Pembina 

Branch St. Paul & Pacific).. . 241 
Moorhead 252 



As ii guide to those who may wish to go in colonies, the fol- 
lowing Articles of Association are suggested, to be modified, of 
course, by those associating for such a purpose. 



ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION TO BE USED IN FORMING 

A COLONY. 

Art. 1. This Association shall be known by the name of 

Colony, 

its object being the purchase and settlement of lands on 
the line of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company in the 

of ." 

and the settlement, under the Homestead Act, of the alternate 
Government sections along the line of said road. 

Art. 2. The oflicers of the Colony shall be a President, a 
Vice-President, a Corresponding Secretary, a Recording Seci-etary, 
and a Treasurer, who shall perform the usual duties pertaining 
to such ofiices. They shall be elected by ballot and the term of 
each be for one year from their election. 

Art. 3. There shall be a Committee on Finance, elected at 

the same time and in the same manner, to consist of _ „_ 

members, whose duty it shall be to examine into the 

financial afiairs of the Colony, and who shall at all times have 
access to all of its books and papers. No money shall be paid 
until the accounts are approved by the Finance Committee. 



28 

Art. 4. The Colony is empowered to appoint Locating and 
other committees as may be found necessary for its prosperity ; 
the powers and duties of such committees to be defined on 
appointment. 

Art. 5. It shall require a majority vote of two-thirds of all 
the members present at a regular meeting for the admission of 
any member into the Colony. Such vote to be by ballot in all 
cases, and every person so elected shall be of lawful age and 
good moral character, and shall subscribe to the Articles of As- 
sociation and By-Laws, and pledge himself to promote, to the 
extent of his ability, the best interests of the Colony. 

Art. 6. The fee of membership shall be- 

dollars, and must be paid to the Treasurer of the Colony (who 

will receipt for the same) within days after 

the member is notified of his election. 

Art. 7. No member of the Colony shall engage in the man- 
ufacture or sale of intoxicating liquor of any kind, or permit it 
to be sold on his premises, except for purely medicinal purposes. 
All conveyances of real estate made by the Colony, or any mem- 
ber of it, shall contain a covenant running with the land prohib- 
iting the sale of intoxicating liquor on such real estate or any 
part thereof, except for purely medicinal purposes ; and in case of 
violation of such clause, then such real estate shall revert to its 
former owner or owners, their heirs or assigns. All appropria- 
tions of money shall be made by a vote of the members of the 
Colony at a regular meeting. All drafts for expenditvires shall 
be drawn by the President on the Treasurer, and countersigned 
by the Finance Committed. The Treasurer shall be required to 
give security in such amoi<nt as the Finance Committee shall 
determine. 

Art. 9. The annual meeting for the election of officers shall 

be held on _ __in each 

year, and regular meetings for the election of members and ap- 
propriation of money shall be held ly ; any 

meeting called by the President at request of ^ 

members of this Colony shall be held to be a regular meeting. 

Art. 10. The Colony may make such By-LaAvs as may be 
found xiseful, and such By-Laws as well as these Articles of As- 
sociation may be amended at any regular meeting by a majority 
of all the members of the Colony, 2^^ovided the proposed amend- 
ment has been submitted at a former regular meeting. 

We, the subscribers, by these presents associate ourselves to 
form a settlement in and agree to be governed 



29 

by these articles and such further rules and regulations as a ma- 
jority of the Association may make at any regular meeting. 



UNITED STATES LAND OFFICES. 

At Duluth, for all lands along the line of the Northern Pacific 
Railroad east of Range XXIV. 

At St. Cloud, for nearly all the lands between Range XXIV. 
and Range XXXVI., including the lands in the counties of Crow 
Wing, Cass, Todd and Wadena. 

At Taylor's Falls, for a small portion of the timbered lands 
near Lake Mill Lacs. 

At Alexandria, for all lands in Ottertail and Wilkin coun- 
ties. 

At Audubon, for all lands in Becker and Clay counties. 



ROUTES FROM THE EAST BY RAILROAD AND STEAMER. 

From Boston : 

By Vermont Central line to Ogdensburgh, and Grand Trunk to 
Sarnia ; to Duluth by steamer. 

By Boston & Albany and New York Central line to Buffalo ; 
to Duluth by steamer. 

From New York : 
By Erie Railroad to Buffalo ; steamer to Duluth. 

By Hudson River and New York Central to Buffalo ; steamei 
to Duluth. 

By Pennsylvania Central to Erie; steamer to Duluth. 
From Philadelphia : 

By Pennsylvania Centi*al to Erie ; to Duluth by steamer. 

The time by the above routes will be from five to six days. 

All of the steamers on Lake Erie stop at Cleveland and De- 
troit. Settlers from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, 
can take passage from one of those ports and have a reduction of 
rates by applying to the proper Agents. 



30 

Settlers who prefer to travel the entire distance by rail may 
obtain tickets by the way of Chicago and St. Paul. The ex- 
pense will be about one fourth more than by the lakes. 

A reduction of from 20 to 30 per cent, from regular rates of 
transportation will be made to settlers, or members of a colony, 
on their application to the Superintendent of Emigration, 120 
Broadway, New York, or by giving satisfactory evidence to the 
local Agents of the Northern Pacific Railroad in the Eastern 
States that they intend to purchase land of the Company or to 
pre-empt Government land along the line of the road. 



PROSPECTUS, 



SEVEN-THIRTY GOLD LOAN. 
Bonds Receivable for Lands at LIO. 

In its First Mortgage Gold Bonds the Northern Pacific Rail- 
road Company furnishes to the public an Investment Security 
M^hich combines the ready Negotiability, the Convenience, and 
the high Credit of a first-class Railroad Bond, with the Solidity 
and Safety of a Real Estate Mortgage on Land worth at least 
twice the amount loaned. 

These Bonds, which, after full investiffation, we strongly recom- 
mend as a reliable and u}msuallt/ prof table investment, and which 
now stand among the most solid and favorite securities, have the 
following leading features : 

1. The issue will not exceed $50,000 per mile of road; holders 
are exempt from United States tax ; the Principal and Interest 
are payable in Gold: the principal in thirty years, and the inter- 
est (at the Banking House of Jay Cooke & Co., New York), semi- 
annually, first of January and July, at the rate of 1-^-^ per cent, 
per annum — nearly 8^ per cent, currency. The semi-annual in- 
terest on the Registered bonds is paid with gold checks sent to 
the post-ofl[ice address of the holder. Denominations : Coupon, 
1100,1500 and $1,000; Registered, $100, $500, $1,000, $5,000 
and $10,000. Present selling price, par and accrued interest 

IN CURRENCY. 



c- 



31 

2, The bonds are a First and Only Mortgage on the Road, its 
Equipments and Earnings, and also on a Land Grant which, on 
the completion of the Road, will exceed 23,000 Acres to each 
mile of track, or 500 Acres of Land to secure each $1,000 bond. 

3, They are at all times receivable at ten per cent, premium 
(1.10) in payment or exchange for the Company's Land at mar- 
ket prices — a provision which practically gives the holder of these 
mortgage bonds the power of foreclosure at will. 

4, The 2:)roceeds of all sales of Land are required to be devot- 
ed by the Trustees of the bondholders as a Sinking Fund to the 
purchase and cancellation of the first mortgage bonds, or, tem- 
porarily, to the payment of interest thereon, if necessary. This 
provision will make the Railroad Company itself a large pur- 
chaser of its own securities in the open market from the time the 
Road is completed until the bonds mature or are all bought in. 

As these bonds are a first lien upon the Road and its Traflic, 
and upon a Government Grant of Land, the character of the se- 
curity will obviously depend jointly upon the Earnings of the 
Road and the Value of its land. 

The Value of Land Grants. — The average price at which the 
twenty-five leading Land Grant Railroads have thus far sold their 
lands is $7.04 per acre — the highest average of any grant being 
$13.98 and the lowest $3.07. 

With few exceptions, the average selling price has steadily in- 
creased from year to year. The lands of the Northern Pacific 
Road are admitted, by all who have seen them, to be better and 
more saleable than those of most other grants ; but, sold at the 
general average of $7.04 per acre, they will yield more than 
$161,000 per mile — more than three times the possible cost of 
the road and the issue of the bonds ; or at the lowest average of 
any grant ($3.07), they will produce more than $70,000 per mile. 
Some Two Million Acres of these lands, lying in the most fertile 
and attractive part of Minnesota, are now ofiered for sale and 
settlement, and are being rapidly taken up by an excellent class 
of settlers. 

Pacific Railroad Earnings. — As ofiicially reported, the gross 
earnings of the present Pacific Railroad (Union and Central) for 
1871, the second year of through business, reached nearly Seven- 
teen Millions and a Quarter ($17,250,000). Of this amount, 
sixty-five per cent, was fi-om local business, and, it is stated, fully 
fifty-five per cent., or nearly Nine and a Half Millions, were net 
over operating expenses. An equal traflic on the Northern 



32 

Pacific Road (and it can hardly fail to secure a greater) will pay 
a yearly net dividend of more tha?i 9^ per cetit. on its total cost. 

This established success of the first Pacific Road places beyond 
question the prosperity and profitableness of the Northern Pacific 
line, with its great and obvious advantages in Distance, Gradients, 
Exemption from Snow, Cost of Construction, Climate and Tribu- 
tary Fertile Country. Each road has an ample field of its 
own, the two being four hundred miles apart. 

ExcHANGiNTG U. S. 5-20's. — In view of the ability and fixed 
policy of the Government to call in all its 5-20's and substitute a 
low interest bond, many holders of 5-20's are exchanging them 
for Northern Pacifies, thus adding to their principal the present 
premium on Government Bonds, and increasing their yearly inter- 
est income nearly one-third. 

All marketable stocks and bonds will be received (by express 
or otherwise) at current prices in exchange for Northern Pacific 
seven-thirties without expense to the investor. Pamphlets and 
full information will be furnished on application. 

JAY COOKE & CO., 

Philadelphia, New York and Washingtwi, 
Financial Agents Northern Pacific Bailroad Company. 

^W For Sale by Banks and Bankers generally. 



|LSE, ""^ CONGRESS 

I' 



016 096 734™'j[ 
OFFICES 



OF THE 



LAND DEPARTMENT 



Northern Pacific Railroad 



120 Broadway, New Yorl^. 
St. Pan], Minnesota. 

Kalama, Washington Territory. 



ALL INQUIRIES RELATING TO LAND OR, IMMIGRATION 
SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO ONl^fe^ 



THE ABOVE OFFICES. . 






'T MACGOWAK 6^ ELifPliR, PKINTI RP, ..f* KABEAU COR. iEANKFOBT E1REET. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




016 096 734 1 



